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DirectTV upgrades: 30 Second Skip, Scheduler; And I miss my to-do button

Started by Mike Olbinski · 3 months ago

I haven’t posted anything related to Direct TV in awhile, mainly because nothing amazing has happened other than getting a new Tennis HD channel which I apparently am not subscribed to.
But that’s all changed. Direct TV just came out with a big upgrade that is slowly goin ... Continue reading »

12 comments

  • R.A. Porter

    10 months ago

    R.A. Porter's last blog post..Netflix drops streaming restrictions
    reply
  • Mike

    10 months ago

    R.A. - We had TIVO forever and we were pretty bummed to go away from it for sure, and I think Jina still misses it from time to time.

    But if you are looking for speed and ease of use, it's really pretty awesome. The menus are much faster and recording things takes maybe half a second? You just find a show, click the record button and basically it's just a "flag" marker to record it and you're done. If you want a season pass, just hit the record button twice, and that's it.

    IT doesn't have the cool Tivo style guide that Tivo has, with the channels on the left, and highlight a channel shows that stations shows on the right pane. But it's still okay. And fast. You can jump ahead with the +12 hour button and quickly get to a week down the road.

    The DVR is just getting better and better for the most part. It used to not save where you were in a show you were playing back and left, but now it does.

    Now, it doesn't have that "dual tuner" ability, but you can get around that by just taping two shows and flipping between each.

    It has a 90 minute buffer too, which was a lot nicer than the 30 minute Tivo had.

    And the big thing is...if you like HD, then DTV is the best way to go right now. I wouldn't get COX's DVR at all, and their HD channels are still planned for later this year.

    Overall, it's a faster unit, maybe not as pretty and without a few features, but it gets the job done and we're pretty happy with it.
    reply
  • Cap'n Schwartz

    10 months ago

    Yeah... let me try and support another directTv process...NOT! (long story for all the readers out there)

    but the CAPN already has the HR-21 HDDVR....
    reply
  • Mike

    10 months ago

    I would probably avoid the HR21 maybe since this update is for the HR20, and the HR21 doesn't have an OTA connection.
    reply
  • Cap'n Schwartz

    10 months ago

    Had no choice, all my recievers are 21's.... its what they brought (cough the 5th time out cough). I can do all these things you mention here except the web remote stuff....
    reply
  • Mike

    10 months ago

    30 second skip too?
    reply
  • Tyler

    10 months ago

    I love this!!!! Thanks for pointing it out. The 30 second skip is the one thing that I really hated not having after having it with Dish.
    reply
  • Jina

    10 months ago

    Oh, it's true - sometimes I close my eyes and still see the happy Tivo cartoon guy. Ah, the good ole days.

    But honestly, the switch hasn't been as hard as I thought in the first few days after we go the new HD DVR. And there are definitely some things I like more - like the ease of setting up "Season Passes" - hit the record button once and then twice and done. Stuff like that makes this girl happy. :)
    reply
  • The Trousered Ape

    10 months ago

    YES - sounds like some nice, newer features - gonna definitely love setting shows via the web.

    Thanks for the info Mike.
    reply
  • Cap'n Schwartz

    10 months ago

    Yes, my new HR-21 comes with the 30 sec skip alrady, I've had this feature for a while now. However, there is not an OTA connection on the back, so you better get all of your local HD channels through direct TV already otherwise you are screwed (like I am with the CW network). Additionally, you cant buy this box, you MUST lease it, which isnt necessairly a bad thing (like if you break it, you get a new one), but they do that to prevent you from enabling software (that you could download) that would enable you to see all the channels you arent subscribed to, and they can prevent it this way.
    reply
  • prkswllflwr

    10 months ago

    Dara's last blog post..why was my question locked ?
    reply
  • Mike

    10 months ago

    I'd like to know what people use Dish, because from what I heard they don't have as much stuff as DTV, no NFL Ticket and their DVR isn't as great...

    I hope you do switch Dara, might be a great decision!
    reply

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